Pasta with White Sausage Sauce

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage (if using link sausage, remove it from the casing)
• 1/2 cup water, white wine or red wine
• 1/2 pound cut pasta like ziti
• 1/2 cup or more freshly grated Parmesan

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
2. Put the butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. As it melts, crumble the sausage meat into it, making the bits quite small, 1/2 inch or less. Add the liquid, and adjust the heat so that the mixture simmers gently.
3. Cook the pasta until it is tender but not at all mushy. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
4. Drain the pasta, and dress with the sauce, adding a little of the reserved cooking liquid if necessary. Toss with salt, pepper and Parmesan, and serve.